Due to rising concerns over coronavirus, Indonesia has cancelled the haj pilgrimage this year for people in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, the religious affairs minister said on Tuesday.
For many Indonesians, a religious pilgrimage is a once-in-a-lifetime event, with the average wait time 20 years due to a quota system, according to the country’s cabinet secretariat.
Saudi authorities have already said the haj and umrah pilgrimages which attract millions of travellers from around the world will remain suspended until further notice.
The quota for Indonesian pilgrims this year was 221,000, with more than 90 per cent already registered to go, according to the religious affairs ministry website.
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